Process and a machine for the production of hollow bodies



April 11, 1961 E. LANGECKER PROCESS AND A MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW BODIES 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 3, 1957 April 11, 1961 LANGECKER 2,978,745

PROCESS AND A MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW BODIES Filed June 3, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 LCF/V/MD lmvafcmse Aprll 11, 1961 v LANGECKER 2,978,745

PROCESS AND A MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW BODIES Filled June 3, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 April 11, 1961 E. LANGECKER 2,978,745

PROCESS AND A MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW BODIES Filed June 5, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ayJm-JM April 1961 E. LANGECKER 2,978,745

PROCESS AND A MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW BODIES Filed June 3, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 "VII.

jm eman' fave/e0 A AWGECKER Hrr April 11, 1961 E. LANGECKER PROCESS AND A MACHINE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF HOLLOW BODIES 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed June 3, 1957 Un d. sitawsmP tf fQ PROCESS AND A MACHINE non rkonuc- I Q 9, i9L9W.-BQPE Erhard Langecker, Meinerzhagen, Germany, assignor to Gebr. Battenfeld, Meinerzhagen, Germany, a German company i V I we .J a.= i.c. 'j f s ire-[ 6 Claims priority, application Germany Dec. 7, 1956 6 cmm's. "16158 5 1 It: is already: known thermoplastic synthetic materialsebyr ablank, ;for;example The treatment of these blanks in known devices .is'cara Q rie'd-out in various ways Accordingtto one method of production, for instance, :a tubular blank isendlessly produced by an extrusion :press, and .fed to a split mould,iin

{closing of which a tubularsection-ishipped on and closed at both ends. Into these 'closedihollow bodies :a hollow mandrel is then introduced and apressurei. medium injected, which blows up the tubular. sectioniandupressesi it against'the inside wallet-the mould. ;With theqknown embodiments-of such machines a large number ofmouldstube is extruded intermittently and fed between thelhalves of the mould. ,The air is admitted from: aboveiandthe i successive st'epsin the cycle of operations are controlled i regulator; 7 l i; ,7 1-. These two types of machine have-' onrthe one handzthe disadvantage that in setting-a rhythm of work the rhythms 'ofwork which followare affected Furth'ermore'itiis not the g \,V:;- v. to make the :disc :carrying the .fit neqepr- Imam a cutter led tojthe noaalie, 1

:W t e ub i b -n p d t er and h u al ,downwards into the, opened mould, afterwhich a nozgle containing the-air mandrel is swung in between the cut ;off tube and the-extrusion nozzle and inserted in the upper openingof vthe tube and then the mould is closed, ,whereby the tube is closed at its lowerend byv the mould andapplied-atits upper end roundthe mandrel, after which the hollow body is blown up in known manner by the air forced in through it he mandrel and after the mould "is openedthebody is stripped of)? the mandreL. Preferbly the cut .hp dsth ftu e n at the t a d i es sit-in its downward path between the two halves of the -1'I1QU L i31 III; :j' 1 1, The invention also relates to a machine 'for carrying :lout;. tl 1e process mentioned, which is'described in what fOllOWSe-iL. 1

It is leiiected rivention thatjif in consequence of 1 its lown weight in suspension an alteration takes place in i the distributionofthe material ofwhich the tube is made,

his.

.5 :uFlglll'Q-[LlS ai-.v.ie .w, of the, machine from the operating side, partly in;secti0n.-:;--e, i J

' :Figure :laisa part of Figure l; to an-enlarged scale.

'zFigure 1b-is a. view similartoFigure 1a and shows the differentv devices in another position,

Figure .-1c isaldetail of; Figure lb to a still'iurtlierienlarged. scale, the figure being a section through one half ofiFigure 7 on :the1line 10-10 thereof. k

Figure .2 is a viewtofsthe side of the machine opposite Figure -1 with a rather difierent setting of the diflferent devices. I 1

Figure3 is a section in the direction. of the line III+III in Figure; l,,,

Figure 4 is a front view of the machine with parts in section. .t I

possible to keep the-width -of the opening in'thehollow body strictly to: dimensions; as itis necessary, for example, I in the production of bottles. 'lfo'keep-thenecks of the .ibottles accurately'to 'sizejit is actually necessary to bore them'outn' V A machine hasalso extruded 'perpendicularly downwards andg between the halves of the mould, ampuldis-supplieddn which a man- ,jdrel'is inserted frornf below ,'--w hic h forms at .the same j tinie the mouthpiece of the airnozzle, The mould nips E ,the tubeatitsupper end and closesjita nd presses the lower f end round the mandrel,after-which thetube is pressed fagainst thekwall of' the hollow mould by blowing in air through the air nozzle, I i

QThis proposal avoids, it is true, 5mm the disadvantages.

base of the finished body, for example, a bottle, is-weaker ,..lthan the lower part, 'whilefthe base of the bottle has to I stand 'upto the severer stress; e 1 ,Theobject of the inventionistoFremove all-thedisj advantages mentioned. This is effected inth'is way,'that the tube'hangingdownwards and extruded from the ex-' been suggested in which the tube is u Figure-5 is a section in the direction of the line V -V in'Figure 3. at 1 Figure 6'is a magnified representation ofvpart of Figure-4.. Figure 7 is aviewfrom above on Figure 5, in which Figure Sis rotated through 90.

Figure 8is a representation of the liiftings and lowering Y Figure 9 --'device of the'blowerimandrel as a section in the dircc-V upper side an-automa-tic weighting device lconstructed in'aknown'mann'er. LItweighs the material f edito it in powderform'to the amountirequired for the pressing {as be produced and. pours it vout at the beginningjof' each operational cycle in front of the press ram 2,;(F1gs.

l and 3) moving to aIldLfIO within thenpressing -or plastification -cylinder 10. 'The press ram2 is driven by an electric motor} which is controlled by a; switch (not,

- shown in thezdrawings) which is 'switched on by a time switch when time is'up, in=a'manner known per -se, and sets in motiontherelectric motor 3 accommodatedqin the machine framel The: motor3 actuates a" shafta;

plan view, from above of Figure in part "Fig. 1b).

open and are positioned below the nozzle in spaced 1 relation thereto.

structed as a crank disk and'drives a rocker arm 7 by a 'link'6, the one end of which is pivotedat 6a to the said crank disk and the other end of which is pivoted at 7a to the saidrocker arm], which latter is swingable around a pivot 8. The rocker arm is, connected with the press ram 2 by a link- 9, the one end of which is pivoted to the said rocker arm 7 at 8a and the other end of which is pivoted to the press ram 2 at 2a. The

,rocker arm presses, when swinging around the pivot 8,

the press ram into the, plastification cylinder 10 or draws it out of it (Figs. 1 and 3). The mass of material leaves the cylinder 10 through the cylinder head 10a and the nozzle 11 as a tube 12.

Next tothe nozzle two push rods 13 are supported;

fin the machine frame, which rods may be displaced vertically,"i.e. in their longitudinal direction. The two push rods are connected with each other at their lower ends by a cross rod 13c to which a guiding rod 13b extending downwardly is fastened, said guiding rod being adapted to slide in a guide 13a-fastened at the machine frame M. On each of these push rods 13 there fits slidably a bushing 15-(see also Fig. 1b) provided at its exterior with a coarse thread 14. The bushings 15 are carried along by the upward movement of the push rods 13 by means of collars 16 fastened on' the push rods. engages in a bushing 17 provided with an inner coarse The coarse thread 14 of the bushings 15 each thread and arranged slidably along the push rods 13. The two bushings 17 are each provided with a hollow spindle -18 on which cutter arms 19 are seated. The

cutter arms are secured to the hollow spindles 18 in such a way that they move with them along the rods 13 and rotate with them around said rods.

. 4 bushing 17 a spring 1611 is inserted which tends to press the respective sleeve upwardly and to open the cutters or hold them opened respectively if the cutters do not engage the abutment 68.

Upon further continuation of the rotation of the cam disk 23, the cutting arms are again raised into their initial position, in the manner still to be described, and finallythe motor21 is switched ofi by an automatic terminal switch 27 which is actuated by a cam 28 on the shaft 30. I p

It is possible to stop the upward movement of the cutter arms by a stop contact 29 (Fig. 5) fitted to the cutter arms. 1 When this contact is actuated, it cuts out the motor and thereby stops the movement of the cutter arms.

On the shaft .30 there .is located inside the machine, i.e. between the two side-walls of the frame M of the machine, a cam plate which is not visible in Fig. 1 and which drives a lever 34. This lever carries at one'end a roller 32 guided in a slot '33 provided in the machine frame. The other end of the lever 34 is connected with f At the one free end of the cuter arms cutter plates I 20 are provided (see also Figs. 1b, 1c and 7),'whose cutting edges form, together with the portion of the ,cutter'arm lying therebelow, recesses 20a of hemispherical cross section having such a diameter that thecutter plates 20 cut through the tube while the severed portion'of the tube is held also after being severed due to the penetration of the tube material into the recess 20a without pressing the opening ofthe tube together (see In the initial position, the cutter arms are The cutter drive is eifected and automatically controlled by -'a motor 21 (Figs. 1, 3 and 4).which is also accommodated in the machine frame M and drives by toothed' gears 22, 31 a shaft 30.

of a rockable lever 26 which may oscillate on a pivot 24 supported by: the machine frame.(Figs. 1 and 2). "The other, forked end of the lever 26 engages the cross rod 13c connecting the push rods 13 and raises and lowers this cross rod and thereby. also the said push rods and the bushings provided thereon with the cutter arms 19, 20 which, at the beginning of the operational cycle, are in their-ready positionabout2 cm. below rods 13, the coarse thread .14 causes a rotation of the This shaft carries a cam 23 which is seen in Fig. 1 in dash lines. A roller 25 engages said cam and is mountedat the free end The cam 23 is adposition in which. the knuckle joints are stretched, and

Fig. 1b. shows it in the opened position.

For blowing up the extruded tube, a blower mandrel 42 is provided which is fitted to a lever 43 (Figs. 1 and 8). This lever is providedvwith a cam roller 44 and is supported on a stripper .lever 45 which serves to strip the ready-blown workpiece from the blower mandrel so as to enable the mandrel to swivel up and down around a spindle 46 relative to lever 45, and the two levers 43 and 45 are supported on the guide plate48 so as to be able to swivel around a perpendicular pivot 47. The guiding plate 48 which is stationary in the machine frame serves together with a further guiding plate 4811 (Fig. 2) for supporting the two cross beams 48b on which the mould closure plates 38, 39 are guided.

The roller 44 on-the lever 43 runs on a cam plate 49 (Figs. 1 and 8) fixed to the mould closure plate 39 I (Figs. 3 and 9) is fixed which has a slot 51 in which travels a roller 52 supported at the mould closure plate, so that when the mould closure plate 39 is displaced, the levers 43 and 45 are-swivelled sideways around the pivot ,47. The stripper lever 45 engages with its free end around the blower mandrel (see also Fig. 8), so that when the mandrelmoves upwardly, the upper. end of the blown workpiece engages lever 45 and is striPPfid from the mandrel.

" After the blower mandrel 42 haslbeen inserted into the mould and the stripper lever 45 is brought into its working position, compressed air is admitted to v the e blower mandreland thejtube within the blower mould is blown up. Thereupon the electric current exciting the electromagnets 62, is' switched oif so that the said magnets release the cutters, whereupon the springs 16a press the bushings 17 upwardly and cause them to rotate around the sleeves;15 by the action of the coarse thread 14, thereby turning the cutters in opposite directions and opening them. The opened cutters may then be raised into their initial position by the continued rotation of the cam disk '23, as the cutter arms are, in the opened position, clear .of the blowing mandrel and the stripper means. p p

In the drive of the. press ram 2 a hydraulic plunger piston 54 (Fig. 3) is inserted running in a cylinder 53 fittedat themachine frame, said plunger and'cylinder serving for absorbing any excess movement or the drive from th P ess m,- Tll s l l y ic tai orig compressed gas. By this :means; after the electric motor 3 is'switched 01f, the press the plastificatioiiicy'linder10. f f

The finished object, stripped off, drops into a collecthere,

t is Bessieinto mmunicateswith' ostorage*cylinder: 55 'filled with I ingcontainen and the blower mandrel and lever again arrive in their 1 claim:

original position.

'f---1. 'A machine for the production of hollow bodies To the press'r'am2 is connected-a ca'm rod 56 which from thermoplastic-synthetic material" which comprises actuates. an electric switch 75 with three' switch positions, means for rdownwardly' extruding a tubular bodyrmeans nlvshown diagrammatically in the drawing; *i -"for severing the extruded tubular body from there- The'manner ofoperation of the machine is as follows: "tnainder' of the material in the extruding =means.and

At the beginning of. the operational cycle the motor f carrying the severed extruded body ina hangingposition 3 is switched on by thetimeswit'ch on expiration of 10 while maintainingthe upper, end of the tubular body the prescribed period of time andthe press ram begins I-open', anopenable-mould consisting of-two-sectionslfand its'thrust; Atthis time the previously prepardblown spaced from--the extrudingmeans for an amountsufiihollow body still lies in the mould (Fig. 1), and the cient to permit at least continuous extrusion, means to material required for the next operative cycle is weighed open and close the mould, means for lowering the said and brought in front of the press ram 2. Now, the first severing means with the severed tubular body longiswitch contact is closed by the cam rod 56 carried with tudinally so as to bring said tubular body to a posithe press ram, which contact actuates electromagnetition between the mould sections while they are open, cally a valve 57, only schematically indicated in the a mandrel having an air passage therethrough, means drawing and positioned in an air supplying pipe, whereto shift said mandrel to a position above and coaxial by the supply of air to the blower mandrel is shut oif to the lowered tubular body and to insert said mandrel and the blown hollow body is de-aerated. into the upper end of the said tubular body in the mould As the press ram travels on, the motor 21 is switched before the mould sections are closed, the edges of the on by the second contact cam of the cam rod 56 which mould sections being provided with means for closing motor sets in rotation the cam 23. This lifts the push the lower end of the tubular body and for calibrating rods 13 with the cutting arms 19 from the position 25 its upper end around said mandrel within the mould shown in Fig. 1 into the ready position, and as soon when the mould is closed, means for introducing air as the opened cutting arms 19 arrive against the stop 68 into the tubular body in the mould through said air pas- (Fig. 5), further travel of the push rods 13 with the sage in the mandrel whereby the tubular body is exsleeve 15 causes the coarse thread 14 to rotate the cutter panded to the shape of the mould, and means to strip arms, thus closing the cutters. Here the cutting plates the shaped body from the mandrel after the mould is 20 grip around the tube and cut it through. The tube opened, the cycle of operations utilized permitting the remains, however, attached to the cutter arms. and is achievement of a continuous bottle-blowing operation still open at the top, as disclosed above. with a single mould.

On the cutter arms 19 (Figure 7) opposite plates 20, 2. A machine as recited in claim 1, wherein said and secured thereto by fins 61a, are electro-magnets 62 means for severing the extruded tubular body comprises which electromagnets, when the cutters are closed, are a pair of pivoted arms, a cutter blade on each of said excited via switch 70 and keep the cutters closed. arms, means cooperating with said blades for support- The tube, cut round and held fast, is now lowered ing the tubular body after it is severed, said arms being by means of the cutters, by the further movement of mounted for vertical movement in the space between the cam plate 23, between the two opened halves of the the extruding means and the mould, and said means mould (40, 41) which have b en brought, in the meanfor lowering the tubular body comprises means for lowertime, into the opened position shown on Figs. 16 and 2 ing the arms from a position adjacent said extruding by bending the toggle joints 35, 36, 37. During the means to a position adjacent said mould. following closure movement of the two halves of the 3. A machine as recited in claim 2, wherein the manmould, which is controlled by the third contact of the drel is mounted for verticaland horizontal pivotal movecam rod the C slot 51 swivels the blower mandrel 45 ment, and the means to insert the mandrel into the open 42 with the stripping lever Over the mould, p which upper end of the tubular body comprises means for the cam 49 allows the blower mandrel (Figures 1 and vertically pivoting the mandrel to insert it into the tubuto fall into the tube heated inside the mould- At lar body before the'mould is closed and while the tubuthe end of the closure movement of the halves of the lar body is supported by said supporting means. mould the lower end of the tube is closed and the part 50 4, A m chine as recited in claim 3, wherein the stripin excess is nipped otf, while the upper end is likewise ping means comprises a lever associated with said man- Pressed against the hlowel mandrel 42, the P in excess drel and mounted for horizontal pivotal movement, said again being pp 0th The Closure movement of the lever having a portion surrounding the mandrel, said mould is ended y a terminal switch Which is emandrel being vertically movable relative to said pormated y Cam 59 0n the Cam Plate shaft tion to strip the shaped body from the mandrel.

while at the same e the magnet compressed air 5. A machine for producing hollow bodies from thervalve 57 is opened and compressed airintroduced into l sti synthetic material which comprises an exthe tube The latter is blown P Pressed against truder having a downwardly directed nozzle adapted to t er l Of the hollow mould 1a)- continuously downwardly extrude a tubular body, a

Y 8 further am of the cam r od 56 the return move- 60 single two-part mould spaced below the nozzle for an mam of PresS ram 2 15 now Inmate? and thls K amount permitting continuous extrusion, means for openmovement. 18 ended by the l t swltch 60 whlch 1s ing and closing the mould, vertically movable cutting actuated m the retracted posmgn if g g i and supporting means, said cutting and supporting means by the 60a.prv1ded on t s a t being positioned for vertical movement in the space hetaneously a time switch (not shown in the drawings) is tween the nozzle and the mould and being constructed switched on, which determines the time till the comh 1 t t th mencement of the next cycle of operations, that is to and arranged to cooperate wlt t e 0 Cu say'the beginning of the next thrust of the press ram. extf'uded l lf d from h mammal m the nozz e In the meanwhile the halves 40, 41 of the mould are While maintaining the pp end of the l r y again opened, the blower mandrel 42 is lifted by the p and to pp h extruded y after It is cam 49, and the prepared hollow body is entrained by means for lowerlng sald cuttlng and supporting means the blower mandrel and stripped off from the blower" to position the extruded and severed body wlthln the mandrel by the stripper lever 45, which engages the mould, means p f the mould closlhg the upper surface of the hollow body. lower end and for calibrating the upper end of the tubular body within the mould, and means for blowing the tubur larbodyrto the shape of the mould by means of a fluid introduced through the open 'upper end' of the body;

6. A process ofproducinghollow bodies fronrthermoplastic synthetic material which comprises downwardly extruding a tubular body, severing the extruded bodywhile maintaining the upper end thereof open, Y7

lowering the severed tubular body in a substantially straight line into the confines of an open mould, adjusting a hollow mandrel above the upper open end of the tubular body and inserting it into said upper open end,

closing the mould about the tubular body, thereby closing the lower end of the said severed tubular body and calibrating its upper end around said mandrel, blowing the tubular body to the shape of the mould by means of "a fluid' 'i1iti'oduced through the mandrel, opening the mould, and' stripping the shaped body from the mandrel.

References Cited in the file of thispatent a Great Britain Feb. 15,1956 

